Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor
2004-10-06 00:00:00
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1998 NEGLECT OF EVIDENCE THAT RELAPSE PREVENTION IS INEFFECTIVE IN TREATMENT OF INCARCERATED SEXUAL OFFENDERS Dear Editor:1 The lack of critical attention given the important evalu- ation by Marques, Day, Nelson, and West (1994) of relapse prevention in the treatment of incarcerated sexual offenders requires redressing. It appears to be the only study so far published in peer-reviewed journals which used the methodologically acceptable procedure of randomly allocating offenders to treatment or no treatment. Follow-up data were reported at an average of 3 years after discharge. The importance of the study has been recognized, Prentky (1994) referring to it as a singularly important experimental project and Marshall and Pithers (1994) as the most methodologically elegant study reported to date. However, inadequate critical attention appears to have been given the findings. Eight of the 83 child molesters who commenced treatment carried out further sexual crimes, compared to 8 of the 79 denied treatment, demon- strating no treatment effect. Three of the 23 rapists who commenced treatment carried out further sexual crimes, compared to 5 of the 18 denied treatment, a statistically insignificant difference. Further, the possibility that denying
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Abstract

Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1998 NEGLECT OF EVIDENCE THAT RELAPSE PREVENTION IS INEFFECTIVE IN TREATMENT OF INCARCERATED SEXUAL OFFENDERS Dear Editor:1 The lack of critical attention given the important evalu- ation by Marques, Day, Nelson, and West (1994) of relapse prevention in the treatment of incarcerated sexual offenders requires redressing. It appears to be the only study so far published in peer-reviewed journals which used the methodologically acceptable procedure of randomly allocating offenders to treatment or no treatment. Follow-up data were reported at an average of 3 years after discharge. The importance of the study has been recognized, Prentky (1994) referring to it as a singularly important experimental project and Marshall and Pithers (1994) as the most methodologically elegant study reported to date. However, inadequate critical attention appears to have been given the findings. Eight of the 83 child molesters who commenced treatment carried out further sexual crimes, compared to 8 of the 79 denied treatment, demon- strating no treatment effect. Three of the 23 rapists who commenced treatment carried out further sexual crimes, compared to 5 of the 18 denied treatment, a statistically insignificant difference. Further, the possibility that denying